Embodiments of the inventive subject matter generally relate to the field of communication networks, and, more particularly, to enabling channel reuse among communication networks sharing a communication channel.
Communication networks (e.g., Powerline Communication (PLC) networks, wireless networks, etc.) can utilize a communication channel or medium which is shared between multiple networks. When a shared communication channel is utilized, the bandwidth available to a communication network may be affected by neighboring communication networks which share the communication channel. In communication networks such as PLC networks, synchronization and frame information in a network packet are fairly robust to ensure reliable delivery of network packets. However, this robustness can reduce channel reuse as devices in a first communication network may be able to detect and decode signals from devices in a second communication network (even with reasonable amount of isolation between the two PLC networks). In techniques such as Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA), network devices verify the absence of network traffic before transmitting on a shared communication channel. When implementing CSMA, detection of frames from the second communication network can cause devices in the first communication network to back-off and yield the communication channel to a transmission from the second communication network. Similarly, detection of frames from the first communication network can cause devices in the second communication network to back-off and yield the communication channel to the current transmission from the first communication network. Such situations result in the available bandwidth on the communication channel being shared between the first and second communication networks, which can reduce channel reuse among the networks.